Batting practice device



United States Patent Gerald P. Andersen 4926 Evergreen, Houston, Tex.77036 792,339

Jan. 21, 1969 Dec. 15, 1970 Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented BATTINGPRACTICE DEVICE 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 273/26 Int. Cl A63b 69/00 Field of Search 273/26, 29, 58(5), 95(l References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,408,070 10/1968 Gonzales etal Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Theatrice BrownAtzorney- Ranseler O. Wyatt ABSTRACT: A device for baseball playersbatting practice having a rotatable vertical shaft on which multipleadjustable horizontal arms are mounted in counterbalancing relation toeach other, and on the extended end of each of said arms is mounted acord having a baseball secured to the free end, said cord being ofapredetermined length.

BATTING PRACTICE DEVICE SUMMARY or THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OFTHE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the device in operation.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front elevational view, showing parts of thedevice broken away, and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional end view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENT In the drawings, the numeral 1designates a base formed of suitable rigid material such as angleiron,-and having upwardly directed brace members 2, 2 welded, orotherwise secured thereto, and having their upper ends secured to thehousing 3. A cross brace 4 extends across the base member, and U-brackets 5, 5 support the motor 6. f i

A vertical, rotatable shaft 7 extends upwardly from the motor 6 throughthe housing 3, and suitable bearings as 8 are mounted in the housing 3to maintain the shaft in alignment in the housing, being mounted at thetop of the housing, and a similar bearing (not shown) in the bottom ofthe housing. The tubular shaft 8 is adjustably mounted on the shaft 7, aset screw as 9 anchoring the shaft 8 at the desired position, andaseries of lateral connections, such as the tees 10, II and elbow 12, aremounted in the member 8, and from which the lateral arms l3, l4, extend.

Each arm l3, l4, I5 is horizontally adjustable, having the subsection Atelescoping within the other section, and having set screws as l6, 16for anchoring the subsection A in the desired position. The end of thesubsection A'is closed with a cap 17, said cap having a perforation (notshown) through which the cord 18 extends, which cord is secured insideof the subsection A, such as by knotting same withfa knot of greaterdiameter than the perforation, to permit the desired length of cord toextend from said cap, and'a ball, as 19, is anchored to the extended endof said cord.

A stabilizer spring 20 is mounted onthe cap 17, and extends outwardlytherefrom, and is coiled around the cord 18, so that the cord will beurged into a steady horizontal plane as the shaft 8 rotates. The lengthof the cord 18, extending outwardly from the cap 17, should be justshort of the length of the combined members 14 and subsection A. g

ln use, the shaft 8 is'adjusted to the; desired height and thesubsections A are adjusted to the desired position, so that the lengthof the cord 18 extending from the cap 17, horizontally, will be lessthan the length of the combined member and subsection A as adjusted. Themotor is adjusted to the speed desired, and as the shaft 8 rotates, theballs 19 on the respective cords will be swung in a large circular path,and at three levels, and the user may take his stance and attempt to hitthe respective balls as they pass. When a ball '!9 is struck, the

length of the cord extending from the cap 17 is such that the ball willrotate in a circular path, with the cap. l7 as the pivot point, and theshaft 8 will be missed by the ball. The rotation of the shaft 8 and thestabilizer 20 will urge the cord 18 back into horizontal position, andwill rotate the ball on a path simulating a pitched ball. Therespective'arms will counterbalance each other and will provide movingballs at varied levels. The variable speed motor permits the adjustmentof the speed of the rotation of the balls, permitting faster balls forolder players, and slower balls for younger players, and theadjustability of the shaft 8 on the shaft 7 provides means for use byall sizes of layers.

If desired, t e connection used in the shaft 8 may be of the type shownas 10, which will permit connection of another arm, and the eliminationof the uppermost arms, permitting two balls to be rotated andcounterbalanced.v

As many users as may be desired may engage in batting practice with thisdevice, and the rotation ofthe balls on different levels will affordpractice of keeping an eye on the approaching ball and gauging its pathof travel, and the path may be varied by varying the speed of the motor,the centrifugal action on the ball determining the plane of the cord,until a maximum of true horizontal is reached, and the speed of thetravel of the ball also being varied by the length of the arms 14 andthe length of the cords 18. When the arms are extended to the maximum,and the cords similarly extended to their maximum, very high speeds oftravel may be attained by the balls.

While the above description pertains to: baseball practice, the deviceis not limited to that particular sport. By changing the nature of theball, tennis practice may be engaged in, the

players learning the art of playing the ball. Similar games may bepracticed by substituting the proper, ball for the baseball shown.

lclaim:

1. In a batting practice device,a base member on which is mounted anupstanding housing, a rotatable shaft mounted in said housing andextending therethrough, means on said base member for rotating saidshaft, an upper shaft mounted on said rotatable shaft and rotatedthereby, arms extending laterally from said upper shaft, a cord mountedon the extended end of each of said arms and a ball secured to the freeend of said cord. 7 i

2. The device defined in claim 1 wherein said upper shaft is verticallyadjustable on said rotating shaft.

3. The-device defined in claim 1 wherein the arms extending laterallyfrom said upper shaft consist'of a pair of telescoping members and meansfor anchoring said "members in the desired position.

4. The device defined in claim 1 wherein a cap is provided on theextended end of each arm, a stabilizer is mounted on each of said capsand extends outwardly from said caps on a horizontal plan, and consistsof a coiled spring tapered from said cap to its free end, the coils ofsaid spring being wound around said cord, and the end of each cordopposite to the ball being secured in a cap. 1

5. The device defined in claim 1 wherein said cord is secured in saidcap after the adjustment of said members of said arm, so that the lengthof the cord is less than the length of the adjusted arm allowing theballto clear the upper shaft when struck by a user.

